Belmont and Plantation streets, Worcester

WORCESTER — The former Mack Truck showroom at the corner of Belmont Street and Plantation Street is technically at 306 Belmont St., and the building is still standing.

The building is being altered for use by UMass Memorial Health Care.

In 1950, the building was sold to A.R. Holmes Transportation Co.

The location on Belmont Street (Route 9) was ideal for a showroom to catch the eyes of passers-by. The road has been a main route from Worcester to Shrewsbury and eventually Boston for many generations.

The Belmont Street section got its name from the hill — "mont" — and Bell, for Bell Pond, located at the crest of the hill.

In the beginning, Belmont Street wasn't a public road. It was a toll road, the Worcester Turnpike, built by subscribers who expected to get their money back.

But for many parts of the road in its early years in the 18th and 19th centuries, the residents were farmers, who also had to pay for every head of cattle that passed by, as well as for every wagon or carriage.

Often, they found a not very original way to avoid the hefty toll: Take a side street off the road before the next toll. In 1809, the state Legislature approved the erection of additional toll booths at cross streets to prevent the toll scoffers from ducking out on their contribution.

The building stands at the corner of an even older road — Plantation Street, so named because it was once the main road in the earliest settlement of the area, Quinsigamond Plantation. It joined the Nipmuc trail farther on.